


Blessings In Disguise

by Aini_NuFire



Series: New Beginnings [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Adorable Castiel (Supernatural), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Big Sister Alex, Claire angst, De-Aged Castiel (Supernatural), Family, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Halloween fun in one chapter, Human Castiel, Kid Castiel (Supernatural), Mom Jody, Post season 12 finale, carnivals, monster case
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-01-12
Packaged: 2019-02-26 10:46:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13234065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aini_NuFire/pseuds/Aini_NuFire
Summary: Sequel to “Miracles Do Happen” - After months on the road hunting by herself, Claire realizes what she really wants is the home and family she left behind. But when she returns to find Jody and Alex have taken in a resurrected, de-aged Castiel, Claire is left reeling—and unsure whether she can find her place with them after all.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Happy 2018 everyone! So, I initially felt bad for not writing this sequel sooner and not having it line up with the fall since there's a chapter in this with some Halloween cuteness (with Sam and Dean!), but having it finished just in time for the hiatus leading up to the Wayward pilot…it's like it was meant to be. I am SO excited for Wayward Sisters!
> 
> Anyway, these characters don't belong to me, yada yada. Thank you 29Pieces for beta reading! ^_^

 

"Yes, I can do that," Jody said, one hand holding the phone to her ear while the other stirred the pot of chili on the stove. "It's no trouble at all."

One hundred cupcakes, was she insane?

"Sure thing. See you then." Jody hung up and took a deep breath. How did she let herself get roped into these things? She already had a full-time job as Sheriff, had recently become a mom to a six-year-old, and now she was going to jump on the PTA bandwagon?

She sighed. That was being a parent. And she didn't regret adopting the little angel that'd been dropped in her lap—both of those being literal. Despite being a reincarnated celestial being, Cas was now fully human. The nephilim magic that had brought his essence back to life and then given him a few major growth spurts was completely gone, leaving him to live out the rest of his life as normally as possible.

Which meant bake sale fundraisers to support his school's programs.

The front door creaked open, signaling Cas was home from said school. Except, Jody didn't hear his vibrant voice talking animatedly to Alex or calling out for her in greeting.

She looked up from the stove, and was stunned to find one of her other orphan strays standing in the archway to the dining room. "Claire."

"Hey," the young woman said tentatively. And Claire  _was_  a young woman now—dressed in dark blue jeans and a black leather jacket, she looked a little more composed, a little more put together than the last time Jody had seen her when she'd packed up to go on a road trip to visit colleges. Only, that had been a lie, and Claire had really been out hunting.

Jody had been upset, though not necessarily surprised, when she'd found out. She'd actually been more taken aback by the phone message Claire had left, confessing to it. A message that had ended with Claire calling Jody her mom and thanking her for everything.

Jody felt warm moisture prick at her eyes, and she finally moved forward to embrace her wayward daughter. Claire looked hesitant right up until the last moment when Jody put her arms around her, and then she squeezed back just as earnestly.

Jody pulled away, a half giddy smile breaking across her face. "How are you?" she exclaimed. "And why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

Claire shrugged one shoulder. "Good. I'm good. And I'm sorry about not calling first. I guess I just…wasn't really sure I was coming until I got here."

Jody felt a pang of disappointment at that, but she quickly shook it off. The fact that Claire had come home was the important part.

"Here, sit." She ushered her into the dining room to take a seat at the table. "What have you been up to? I mean, I know you were hunting, but…did you do anything else? You probably traveled a lot."

Claire nodded. "Yeah, I got around. I saw the Grand Canyon. It was pretty cool."

Jody smiled. "That sounds nice. Hopefully there wasn't a monster there."

Claire smirked. "No. I was just passing through."

Jody hoped Claire wasn't just 'passing through' here.

The timer in the kitchen beeped its one minute warning.

"Hang on a sec," Jody said, and got up to go turn the burners on simmer so the chili and other pot of boiling potatoes wouldn't burn.

"How are you?" Claire asked when she came back, roving her gaze around the toys in the adjoining living room. "You said you were adopting a kid, one orphaned in a supernatural event, right?"

Jody frowned. "Yeah, I did… Have you talked to Sam and Dean?"

"Not since a werewolf case we worked together a while back," Claire replied. "I take it they were involved with this kid? What's his story?"

Jody felt all the oxygen get sucked out of her lungs, replaced with dread and burgeoning anger. The Winchesters were supposed to have told Claire what happened…only apparently they hadn't. How the heck was Jody going to explain that she'd adopted the de-aged angel who'd previously inhabited the body of Claire's father? The same body he'd been reborn in, given he was the spitting image of a young Jimmy Novak from some old photographs.

Dammit, how could Sam and Dean have been so irresponsible so as to leave this to her? Granted, they'd been through a lot—losing their best friend, their mother getting sucked into an alternate universe, Satan's half-grown offspring running around. But still, this was something they should have handled themselves, instead of leaving Claire to find out like this… Jody tried to think of where to even begin, but before she could, the front door opened, and she stiffened as Cas and Alex entered the house.

"Is that Claire's car out front?" Alex called, pausing when she saw Claire for herself. "Hey."

"Hey." Claire's gaze went to Cas as he bounded over to Jody, a large piece of card-stock in his hands.

"Jody, look what I made in school today," he exclaimed, holding the poster up. It had bits of nature taped to it—a sample of dirt, sand, some pebbles, leaves of different varieties, and even pressed flowers.

"Wow," she said, taking one edge to hold it up for inspection. "This is neat. Is that an acorn?"

Cas nodded. "I wanted to add stuff from our garden, but my teacher said the project was for the plants at school." He pursed his mouth. "Can I make another one for home?"

"That sounds like fun," Jody said, casting a furtive glance at Claire, who was watching Cas curiously. "Sweetie, this is Claire. She's one of my adopted daughters like Alex."

Cas tilted his head at her. "Claire whose room I'm not supposed to go in?"

"That's right." Jody flicked a look at her. "I didn't give your room away. The munchkin's in the old guest room."

Claire's mouth quirked. "Yeah, I know. And thanks."

Cas smiled at her shyly. "Hi. I'm Cas."

Jody tensed. Crap…

Claire stared at him for a moment before her brow started to furrow. "Your name is what?"

"Cas," he repeated.

Claire appeared stunned for a second longer, and then she whipped an accusing gaze up at Jody. "What the hell is going on?"

Cas recoiled a fraction at her sharp tone.

"Hey, Squirt," Alex jumped in. "Let's go upstairs and put your poster on your wall."

Cas flicked an uncertain look between everyone before timidly taking his collage and backing away. "Okay."

Alex exchanged a sober look with Jody as she turned to take him upstairs.

Once they were gone, Claire skewered Jody with a harsh glare. "What is this?"

Jody held her hands up. "Okay, this is going to sound crazy, but, um…" Shit, this was definitely not in any parenting books.

"What?" Claire demanded. "Is that supposed to be Castiel? Because 'Cas' isn't exactly a common name."

Jody grimaced. "Yes and no. Uh…dammit, the boys were supposed to talk to you first."

"Yeah, well, they didn't."

Jody suppressed a sigh. She'd be having words with them over this. She took a deep breath. "Okay, back in May, Sam and Dean and Castiel went up against the Devil, and Castiel…he was killed. But there was some wild magic going on at the same time, and somehow he was resurrected as a baby."

Jody mentally cursed. She shouldn't be the one explaining this since she hadn't even been there.

"A baby," Claire said dubiously.

"Yeah. But because of the wild magic, he had some growth spurts. Which were then making him sick, so we had to find a way to remove it, and now he's completely human. Except for the small fact that he's passing as a six-year-old when really he's only five months old. But from here on out, he's gonna have a normal growth rate."

Thank goodness. Those periods of illness followed by explosive age jumps had threatened to age  _her_  twenty years at a time.

Claire stared at Jody in silence for several long moments, looking as though she were trying to process all this. It was a lot.

"He didn't know who I was," she finally said carefully.

"No," Jody replied softly. "He doesn't remember anything from his life before. The Winchesters and I agreed to let him grow up in a normal house. If his memories come back, they come back. But in case they don't, we're not going to force them."

She didn't mention she was of the opinion it would be better if Cas never remembered. It'd be too much for a child to handle, and even if he remembered as an adult, it wouldn't make it any easier to have the life he did know now get turned upside down.

Jody shook her head. "I'm sorry. Sam and Dean should have been the ones to tell you. Are you okay?"

Claire slowly nodded, but she didn't look okay; she looked shell-shocked. She cleared her throat. "I'm, uh, gonna go put my bag in my room."

"Yeah, okay."

Jody watched her head upstairs, then pulled out her phone to give the Winchesters a piece of her mind.

* * *

Claire made her way up to her room, feeling half in a daze. Part of her thought Jody must be playing some cruel joke on her.

No, not Jody. The universe. First it had taken her dad, then her mom, and now…

She heard voices coming from one of the bedrooms—the old guest room. Through the gap in the partially open door, Claire could see it now held toys, books, and a child's backpack.

She quickened her pace past it and retreated into her own room, shutting herself in. She flicked on the light switch and roved her gaze around the familiar walls and furniture. Everything was just as she'd left it.

But everything else in the house clearly wasn't.

Dropping her duffel on the floor, Claire immediately went to her desk and pulled open the top drawer. She rifled through a bunch of papers, pencils, and other assorted items until she found an old photo of her dad as a kid. It was faded and crackled, but the similarities between him and the child down the hall were unmistakeable.

Claire sank into her desk chair. So, Castiel was…gone. She hadn't talked to him in a long time, not wanting to get another lecture about hunting. He wasn't her dad.

But he was…she didn't even know what to call their complicated relationship. He was the angel who'd stolen her father. But he was also the angel who helped save the world. And he cared about her. Years later, which at first had felt like too little, too late, but then had ended up meaning more to Claire than she could have imagined, knowing there was someone out there thinking of her. Someone out there who would come if she was in trouble.

And she'd come to care about him in return. Maybe it was that distant memory of being wreathed in a blazing supernova when Castiel had briefly possessed her that helped her come to terms with the fact that he'd only been trying his best in a world that was falling apart around them. And he'd ended up as beaten down and world weary as she had, bringing them to the same level, almost, a place they could both start over from.

And now he was dead. Only, not dead, but a reincarnated child with no memories. Living with Jody and Alex. Which made Claire even more of an extraneous fixture that just didn't quite fit. Again.

She'd gone off on her own, left the home that she'd been offered, in order to find her place in the big wide world, only to realize that what she really wanted deep down  _was_  that patchwork family. And now it seemed like it was too late to come back.

Her phone rang. Claire fished it out of her pocket and looked at the caller ID—Dean. She hit 'Ignore.'

Leaning back in her chair, she gazed aimlessly around her room, unsure what to do next. Numbness creeped in, probably from the shock of the bombshell that'd been dropped on her. She didn't register how long she just sat there, but eventually a knock at the door jolted her out of her stupor.

Alex poked her head in. "Dinner's almost ready."

Claire nodded mutely in acknowledgement. A few hours ago, she'd been on the road and craving one of Jody's home cooked meals, but now her appetite had withered along with her expectations.

Alex lingered in the doorway. "Welcome back," she said, sounding sincere.

Claire couldn't think of anything to say, but she forced herself to stand and follow Alex downstairs. Disillusionment weighed heavily on her shoulders. It seemed the old saying was true—you can never go home again.


	2. Chapter 2

Alex should start keeping a tally of the number of awkward dinners that took place at Jody's house. Not that it was Jody's fault, by any means. And she was doing her best to make it as normal as possible.

"So, Alex, how was your day?" Jody asked.

"Fine," she replied. Nursing school was a lot of work, especially memorizing all the science and medical terminology, but she had a handle on it. "Got a B on that test I was worried about."

Jody beamed at her. "That's great. How about you, Cas? What did you learn in school today?"

"We learned about the sun and plants and oxygen. It's called an ecosystem."

"Aren't you just in kindergarten?" Claire spoke up, looking at him strangely.

"I'm in first grade," he corrected her proudly.

"Cas is…gifted," Jody explained. "He's going to an advanced placement school."

It had been clear early on that Cas was a little prodigy. Maybe it was from having some kind of leftover bits from being an angel, but it hadn't gone away after he'd become fully human. Jody had wrestled with enrolling him in school. On the one hand, he was technically only five months old and therefore missing a lot of background knowledge his peers would have. On the other hand, the point was for him to grow up with a normal life, yet he was far past most kids his 'age' in learning, and it wasn't like Jody and Alex had the means to homeschool him. They also didn't have the means to send him to an advanced program, but then Cas had ended up getting a scholarship at a prestigious school for gifted youngsters, and so far he seemed very happy there.

"Bees are really important for the ecosystem," Cas added, and prattled on about them for the rest of dinner. Claire didn't interject again.

When they finished the meal, she fled rather quickly back upstairs, claiming she was tired from the road.

Alex exchanged a look with Jody, and then they got up to clear the dishes from the table.

"Is Claire my sister too?" Cas asked as he set his plate on the counter next to the sink.

Alex saw Jody wince. Yeah, that was a…complicated dynamic.

"Claire is family," Jody replied, artfully sidestepping the question.

Cas accepted the answer, though, and declared that he was going to go out back and see how much the pumpkins in their garden had grown today. Alex helped Jody with the dishes and putting the leftovers away, and then she headed upstairs to Claire's room.

Her first knock went unanswered, so she rapped a little more insistently.

"Come in," came a disgruntled response.

Alex opened the door and found Claire sitting on her bed with her headphones around her neck. "Hey."

"Hey."

Alex stood there awkwardly for a long moment. It was easy to remember how much the two of them had been at odds in the beginning, but then they'd started to grow out of it, and might have even grown closer if Claire hadn't taken off.

"So," Alex began. "You planning on staying?"

"Got used to me being gone, huh?"

Alex crossed her arms. "Don't be an ass. Jody missed you. We both did."

Claire snorted. "Yeah, well, it seems like you guys have your new lives all worked out. No need for me to come in and disrupt things."

Alex rolled her eyes. And Claire used to accuse her of being a drama queen. "Jody would like it if you stayed."

"To babysit?" she scoffed.

" _No_. Like you said, we've got our routines worked out." Alex glared at her pointedly. "But you're still part of this family, doofus."

Claire looked away.

Alex sighed and dropped her arms to her sides. "I can't imagine what you're going through. To have an angel take your father away, then to come back wearing his face, and now this…"

She trailed off, knowing how messed up it sounded when spoken aloud, yet at the same time, it didn't affect her the same way. Alex had never met the angel Castiel. To her, this Cas was her little brother, and the sweetest kid she'd ever known. And she knew Claire would warm up to him if she gave him a chance.

But there was also history there for her, one Alex couldn't begin to fathom the impact of. Still…

She let out a breath. "Cas isn't Castiel."

Claire looked up sharply.

"I'm sorry, but he isn't. He's just a kid, and I'm not trying to belittle or dismiss what you must be feeling, but don't take it out on him. He doesn't deserve that."

"You're right, you don't know what I'm feeling," Claire snapped.

Alex's jaw tightened, but she knew better than to take it personally. How many times had she lashed out in the midst of her own grief and mental anguish in the past?

"No, but I'm willing to listen if you want to talk. So is Jody."

Claire didn't respond to that. She just needed time to process everything.

"Anyway," Alex said after the silence continued for several more moments. "Good night."

She turned and left, hoping her family could get through this next hurdle.

* * *

Claire put her headphones back on and blared the music in an effort to drown out all her tumultuous thoughts and feelings. She was also a bit peeved at Alex for insinuating that she would be angry with a little kid. Claire wasn't even  _angry_ , just…feeling like her world had gotten turned upside down again, and she was tired of it. Tired of the universe shitting on her life.

She'd thought that…after she'd survived the werewolf bite, it was some kind of sign. That she was strong and not just putting on a front for people. That she  _could_  pick herself up and get her life together.

Not that she'd had a clear plan when she'd decided to come home. She'd just thought that this was where she'd be able to figure things out, not on the road.

But now she felt even more lost than before, and the people she  _might_  have reached out to in that moment had left her hanging, in one way or another.

Her door opened a crack and Jody stuck her head in. Claire yanked her headphones off and sat upright on the bed.

"Sorry," Jody said with an apologetic grimace. "I knocked, but…" She directed a pointed look at the headphones, the music coming through them audible even without wearing them. "You're going to damage your hearing that way, you know."

Claire didn't respond. A year ago she would have rolled her eyes and given a sulky retort. Now she just felt…numb.

"I'm sorry you had to find out like this," Jody went on. "I really thought Sam and Dean had told you. I actually thought that was why you hadn't come back before now. That you maybe needed time…" She shifted her weight, then moved to take a seat in the desk chair, leaning forward to rest her arms on her thighs. "I didn't know Castiel, but from what I've heard, from you and the boys, he sounded like a good person."

Claire dropped her gaze. "Yeah." And as much as she was thrown by his death, she knew the Winchesters had to be affected even more. "How- how are Sam and Dean?"

Jody gave her a sad smile. "They were devastated. Castiel- he died right in front of them. And then when he was brought back as a baby, they weren't really in the best shape to handle it. Plus there was still a big threat to deal with. That's how Cas ended up here."

That made sense. Jody was kind of the Winchesters' go-to person for stuff like that.

"But they've come to terms with it now," Jody continued. "They're still grieving, of course, but they've also accepted that Cas is still their friend. They just have to…start from scratch. Not that it's hard to win over a kid if you've got chocolate chip cookies." Her lips twitched with the attempt at levity, but Claire didn't laugh.

"Why did you adopt him?" she asked after a beat of silence.

Jody shrugged. "I've become the Winchesters' official wayward house for orphans."

Again, Claire wasn't seeing the glibness in this situation.

Jody sighed, expression turning serious. "When Cas was staying here…I fell in love with that sweet little boy. And as much as I love Sam and Dean, their lives are not conducive to raising a child."

Claire snorted in agreement.

Jody shared a wry smile with her. "We all decided it was best for Cas to have as normal a life as possible. Even though he certainly didn't have a normal beginning." She gave Claire a level look. "But just because this family has grown does not mean there's no room for you anymore."

Right, so she and Alex were saying. But saying it didn't make it real or practical. And while part of Claire wanted to respond by admitting that all her time out on the road had made her realize that her home, her family,  _was_  here, saying that out loud didn't make her fit, either.

Still, she didn't have anywhere else to go, and she wasn't eager to return to that nomadic lifestyle.

"I thought I'd stick around for a while," she hedged.

Jody's mouth quirked as though she were trying to hold back a wide smile, but she couldn't keep it out of her eyes. "Any plans? I mean, I know you were hunting…"

Claire drew her shoulders back. "Yeah. I'm getting good at it, too."

Jody nodded slowly. "It doesn't pay the bills very well," she said carefully.

Claire let out an exasperated huff. "I'm not going to college. It's just not for me, okay?"

"Sure, I get it," Jody said quickly, sitting up straighter as a sign of backing off. She hesitated. "I was actually thinking something in law enforcement. Comes in pretty handy to have a real badge when you're investigating cases."

Claire blinked, taken aback. Wait, was Jody actually suggesting she become a cop?

"I could train you," Jody tried to say casually. "As a deputy, but we'd also handle hunts together when they come up."

Claire honestly didn't know what to say to that—yet her knee-jerk reaction  _wasn't_  to say no…

"I'll think about it."

Jody looked mildly surprised, but covered it up and nodded. "Okay." After another split second of hesitation, she stood up and headed for the door. "Good night."

"Night," Claire mumbled as Jody left, closing the door behind her.

She sat in stunned silence for a long while. Jody's olive branch had come from a place of wanting to help, but the proposal was just another thing to muddle up Claire's already scattered brain.

She did pull out her phone, though, and typed up a quick text message.

_"You should have told me."_

Not even thirty seconds after hitting 'Send,' her screen lit up with an incoming call from Dean.

Claire hit 'Ignore' and turned her phone off.

* * *

"You really put me in a hard position here," Jody said into her phone as she dropped some pop tarts in the toaster.

"I know," Dean replied, tone heavy with remorse. "I'm sorry. We didn't mean to, we just got…" He sighed. "Caught up." At least the way he said it implied he knew it was a lousy excuse. And Jody knew they hadn't meant to drop the ball.

"Anything on your mom?" she asked.

"No," he replied, and she could hear the weariness and defeat in his voice. "And Sam's hit a wall with the dimension hopping."

"I'm sorry."

"Mom's probably dead anyway," Dean said gruffly. "Lucifer would have killed her the moment they got sealed on the other side of the portal. All this searching…it's distracted us from things we should have been handling."

Jody's heart gave a pang. "I take it there's nothing on Lucifer's kid, either?" She, at least, hadn't gotten any more word of unusual happenings that might suggest a nephilim was running wild.

"No, things have gone quiet on that front, too." There was a pause on the other end of the line. "Maybe we should come out there, talk to Claire. She's not taking our calls."

Jody sighed. "She needs time to process things, just like you guys did. Plus I think it's more than just Cas being here. Claire's been struggling with stuff for a while. Besides," she added, "you're coming next week for Halloween, right?"

"Right," Dean confirmed, sounding a tad brighter at that. "Cas- he's still doing okay?"

Jody smiled. "He's doing great. He loves school and can't wait to tell you and Sam all about it."

Dean chuffed out a laugh. "Okay, then. We'll see you soon."

"Bye." Jody hung up, just as Alex and Cas came down. The toaster popped right on time, and Jody tossed the warmed pastries onto some plates to hand to them. "That was Dean on the phone," she said. "Remember they're coming to visit next week."

Cas's eyes lit up. "When will they be here? Will it be before school ends? Maybe I should stay home." He pursed his mouth. "But I don't want to miss school. Maybe they can come there!"

Jody shook her head in amusement. "I don't know what time they'll get here, but you will see them for dinner for sure." She grabbed a carton of orange juice from the fridge and poured some into a glass, which she set in front of him.

The three of them went about their morning routine of getting ready for work and school, until Claire appeared, standing in the entryway and looking uncertain.

"Hey," Jody greeted. "Coffee's fresh."

Claire rolled her shoulder, and wordlessly shuffled toward the pot.

"Come on, Squirt," Alex said to Cas. "Let's get you to school."

He drained his glass of juice and then slid out of his chair to scamper into the living room for his backpack.

"Have a good day," Jody called after them. She turned back to Claire. "I gotta get to the station. So you have the house to yourself for a while." She almost said not to have any wild parties, but caught herself at the last second. Claire still hadn't said anything.

"I'm picking Cas up after school at three, so we'll be home around 3:20. Alex's classes run late on Thursdays. There's leftovers in the fridge for lunch. Um—" Shoot, she had to make those cupcakes. Jody grabbed a notepad and hastily wrote down a reminder, underlining it twice and adding several exclamation marks. "We'll have to order pizza for dinner tonight, as I've got a ton of baking to do for Cas's school."

Claire just gazed back at her silently.

Jody wavered, but then on impulse, stepped in to give her a quick hug. She made sure to pull back a split second later and moved away, not wanting Claire to feel smothered.

"Okay, then. See you later."

She got a quiet, "Bye" in response, but she'd take it.

* * *

The ensuing silence in the house was stifling. To think Claire used to spend her days lounging around while Jody was at work and Alex at school. Well, lounging plus looking for cases. She didn't know whether she'd really expected to fall back into that same pattern after coming back, but despite the similarities of where she found herself now, things were also starkly different.

Cupping her mug of steaming coffee, Claire drifted into the living room and roved her gaze around the toys piled in a box in one corner, the coloring books on the lowest bookshelf, and the kids shoes by the front door. There was even art on the refrigerator in the kitchen.

She probably shouldn't snoop, though hadn't Jody said this was still her house, too? And so Claire found herself climbing the stairs and coming to a stop outside Ca- the kid's room. She nudged the door open. The interior was an odd amalgamation of adult size furniture and a child's belongings. More artwork adorned the walls, along with that science poster he'd brought home yesterday.

There was a stack of children's books from the library on the desk and some homemade clay figurines on the dresser, along with framed photographs of Jody, Alex, and a little boy with dark hair and dancing blue eyes. He was laughing or beaming in every photo.

Claire still didn't know how she felt about all this, about Castiel being gone. Dead. And he wasn't coming back, not as himself, anyway. That hurt, in the way she'd never see his dorky face again, or mock him for being a doofus. She no longer had an angel looking out for her, and although there had been plenty of times she hadn't wanted him to, it had still been comforting to know that Castiel was out there, and that he cared. The list of people who cared about her wasn't very long, and Claire had realized that she didn't want to go it alone anymore. She wanted to be with family.

The question was, could she find a place here?

She thought about Jody's offer from last night. Become a deputy? Claire wanted to laugh. Not with her juvie record. Although, since Jody  _was_  the sheriff…she might be able to pull some strings, make an exception. But still, Deputy Claire Novak? As if. This was probably just a sly attempt to distract her from hunting. Sure, Jody had said they could work cases together, but what Claire would probably be relegated to would be menial stuff like traffic stops and teen vandalism.

She gave herself a sharp shake. She knew Jody better than that. And hadn't Claire come back because she was tired of working alone? She'd been so intent on figuring things out for herself that she'd gotten into the mindset that anything she needed to learn she could teach herself. But deep down she knew that wasn't true, and she felt on the verge of finally admitting it.

Yet doubt still plagued her.

Frustrated, she went back downstairs to find some breakfast. Idleness was not going to do her any favors today. Her gaze landed on the note Jody had written just before leaving. Bake one hundred cupcakes? Was she insane?

Claire stared at it for several long moments, and then pivoted to go open the pantry. Flour, sugar, vanilla…and she checked the fridge for eggs. Seemed like all the ingredients were there. She wasn't a great baker, by any means, but she'd made cookies once or twice when she'd been living with Randy. And while she definitely didn't have any intentions of becoming a domestic housewife, since she  _didn't_  have anything else to do right now, she figured she could help out. Jody was a single mom now and obviously had her plate full. If Claire wanted to fit, she needed to contribute.

She pulled out her phone and googled a simple cupcake recipe, then double checked to make sure she did have all the ingredients. One hundred of these was gonna be quite the undertaking, but as soon as she put on some music in the background and got to work, she fell into a rhythm. Make one batch, put it in the oven, mix up the next. Take that tray out, get them on a plate, and repeat.

She ran out of counter space quickly, and ended up stacking the baked cupcakes out on the dining room table. She got so absorbed in the entire process that Claire didn't even realize half the day was gone, nor did she hear anyone arrive home until she turned and started at Jody standing in the entryway, mouth open in shock.

"Oh, hey," Claire said, setting the mixing bowl down and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Sorry about the mess. One hundred cupcakes is a lot more than they sound like."

Actually, no, they were just as much as they sounded like.

Jody continued to gape incredulously at the cupcakes—and the mess. "I…wait, are these the cupcakes I was supposed to make for the school?"

Claire nodded nonchalantly. "Yeah. You seemed really busy and I had some time on my hands. Figured I'd pitch in. You know, as a member of the family."

Jody's mouth moved soundlessly for several moments. "I don't even know what to say. Except thank you. This is incredible."

Claire smiled back. "I've got a few more batches to make. Why don't you go upstairs and relax? Take a bubble bath or something."

Jody arched a dubious brow.

"Seriously. When's the last time you got to do that?"

Jody snorted. "Never."

Claire shrugged. "So go. I've got things down here."

"Um…" Jody glanced down at Cas, who had appeared at her side to peer curiously into the kitchen.

Claire felt a flicker of uncertainty at being left alone with the kid, but she shoved it down. "Seriously. It's fine."

Jody hesitated, but then said, "Okay." She reached down to rub Cas's head. "Be good, okay?"

He nodded and watched her leave, then turned his attention back to Claire.

"Um, don't you have something you can go play with?" she asked. Despite her assurance to Jody, she'd never really been good with young kids, and she certainly didn't know how to talk to this one.

"Can I help?" he asked instead.

Claire faltered, gazing around at the mess. "Um, I guess…"

He cautiously entered the kitchen and climbed into a chair at the table.

"Um, here, you can mix this next batch," she said, moving the bowl to set in front of him.

He grabbed the whisk and immediately started churning the batter. Claire looked around for what else she needed to do, having been momentarily thrown off her rhythm.

"Claire," Cas spoke up. "Are you staying?"

She froze. That was the question she'd been trying not to ask herself all day. And she still wasn't sure what she was going to do, but she knew she wouldn't find what she was looking for somewhere else.

"Yeah, I am."

Cas broke into a wide smile, looking pleased.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fluffy chapter here, folks. ^_^

Dean pulled the Impala into the driveway behind Jody's truck and parked. He'd barely turned off the engine and started climbing out of the car when the front door of the house opened and Cas came barreling out.

"Dean! Sam!" Cas ran to Dean first and practically leaped at him.

Dean let out a surprised "oomph," almost staggering back a step as Cas threw his small arms around Dean's waist. He leaned down to return the hug. "Hey, buddy. It's good to see you, too."

Cas let go as Sam came around the front of the car, and the towering giant had to get down on one knee in order to give the kid a real hug.

"Hey, Cas," Sam said with a smile.

Jody stepped out on the front porch, arms crossed and a smirk on her face. "He heard that behemoth of yours from halfway down the block."

"Hey, no dissing Baby," Dean objected. "And that's a purr you hear."

"Yeah, from the belly of a beast. Now come here." She started forward, opening her arms, and Dean gladly moved in to give her a hug as well.

After Sam got his, they made their way inside where Alex was sitting at the dining room table with several hefty looking textbooks laid out in front of her. She looked up long enough to give them a warm smile.

"Hey."

"Hey," Sam replied. "How's nursing school?"

"All-consuming."

He smiled in commiseration. "Yeah, pre-law was like that, too."

Alex lifted her brows. "You were pre-law?"

Sam shrugged. "A really long time ago."

"What's pre-law?" Cas asked, wedging himself between Sam and Dean.

"It's school to become a lawyer," Sam answered.

"Oh. What's a lawyer?"

A retort of them being minions of Satan was on the tip of Dean's tongue, but he held back. Little Cas wouldn't get it.

Actually, to be fair, Castiel the angel wouldn't have gotten it, either. He would have pointed out the inaccuracy of such a statement.

Dean felt a pang at the absence that was still there in his heart and in their lives. He missed his best friend being in the bunker with them, helping on cases. Yet at the same time, Dean was glad that Cas was doing well, that he seemed happy, that he was healthy. In the end, that was more important.

"Well," Sam started, "a lawyer is someone who studies the law, and when someone does something bad, a lawyer then has to either prove guilt or innocence."

Cas's face scrunched up in concentration as though he didn't quite get it.

Dean turned to Jody and asked quietly, "Where's Claire?"

"Upstairs." Jody sighed. "She's trying, but I can tell it's not easy on her."

Dean nodded; he still felt bad that he was partially to blame for that. He patted Jody's arm, and then headed toward the stairs, leaving Sam to fumble his way through explaining lawyers to a six year old. Hopefully Cas wouldn't decide he wanted to be one when he grew up. Dean wanted him to be anything other than a hunter— _almost_  anything. At least that was several years away, and jeez, sometimes that realization felt like a gut punch, in both good and bad ways.

He came to Claire's room and knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Dean turned the knob and let himself in. Claire was sitting at her desk, but had half turned in her swivel chair to face him.

"Hey," he greeted, and then because he couldn't think of anything else, said, "You haven't been answering my calls."

Claire folded her arms across her body. "Wasn't much left to say after Jody filled me in."

Dean internally winced. He moved toward the bed and sat down. "I'm sorry. We should have told you first.  _I_  should have told you first."

She shrugged one shoulder. "I get it, you were busy."

"That's no excuse. Cas was…" His chest hitched every time he talked about his friend in the past tense, because in so many ways, Cas  _was_  gone, yet not. He was downstairs with Sam and alive and vibrant. "I mean, I know you two had a complicated relationship, but you cared about him," he finished tentatively. The truth was Dean wasn't quite sure how much Claire had cared about Cas, the angel that had taken her father away.

"I do miss him," Claire said softly. "But we weren't that close. I think…I think we might have become that, over time." She paused, eyeing him with compassion. "How are you doing?"

Dean gave her a somber look. "I miss him, too. But he's not really gone. That kid downstairs is still Cas in a lot of ways. He's curious, caring." Dean snorted. "He still likes bees."

Claire's expression turned thoughtful. "I've seen some of his drawings of bees." She shook her head. "Castiel always did like that bee emoji."

Dean huffed out a laugh. "Yeah." He fell silent for a moment, sifting through emotions that were still troublesome on occasion, but that he'd done better at coming to terms with. "Cas has a chance at a better life," he finally said. "And though it doesn't make the pain go away, it makes it…more bearable. If that makes sense."

"It does."

Dean nodded, and then straightened as he sloughed off the solemn mood. "You been taking care of yourself out there?" he asked.

Claire rolled her eyes. "As well as you guys do."

He snorted. "Then that's not good, is it?"

She shot him a wry look at that.

Dean met her gaze. "What are your plans?"

Claire's mien hardened and she started shaking her head in clear frustration. "Everyone keeps asking me that." She stood abruptly from her chair and paced toward the window. "And you know what? My plans had been to come home, still hunt, maybe with Jody. But everything's changed."

Dean stood up too. "I get it. You thought things were going a certain way, you made plans, and then the floor got ripped out from under you. It's been an adjustment for all of us. Even Jody and Alex. They didn't ask to suddenly become guardians to a former angel. But they're making it work. We're all making it work, and you can, too."

"I barely pick myself up after everything falls apart," she retorted. "Maybe I want to stop trying."

Dean cautiously approached her. "I understand that feeling, too. Like why bother, right? Because just when you think things are starting to get good, it'll be taken away from you."

Claire blinked, eyes turning watery. Dean's own throat constricted.

"But I think Cas is living proof that good things do happen. Maybe not the way we want. But you still have family here. Just with one extra member."

Claire angled a pinched look at him, and he closed the last of the distance between them to enfold her in a hug. Her arms came up to squeeze back with such firm intensity that Dean suddenly wasn't sure who exactly was the one providing comfort. Maybe they both were.

Dean finally drew back. "You gonna come down and say hi to Sam?"

Claire surreptitiously wiped her eyes. "Sure."

They headed downstairs where Dean was relieved to see the conversation had moved on from lawyers, and now Cas was telling Sam about pumpkins that were in the backyard and how Sam had promised to teach him how to make a jack-o-lantern.

"I made paper jack-o-lanterns in school," Cas said. "But they were flat. I want to see a real one."

Sam chuckled. "Sure thing, buddy." His gaze flicked over to Claire and he nodded in hello.

"Tomorrow," Jody interjected. "Right now, I'm gonna start on dinner."

Cas grabbed Sam's hand and started tugging at him. "Come see my room. I made lots of stuff in school." As he yanked Sam along, Cas grabbed at Dean's hand, too.

Dean couldn't help the smile that broke out across his face, and he exchanged an amused look with his brother as they were both propelled toward the stairs by a rugrat less than half their size. But Cas's eagerness and obvious joy were contagious, and warmed Dean's heart with the confirmation that beyond the pain of its beginning, this here was, in fact, a blessing.

* * *

Sam and Dean spent the night in Jody's living room, Sam having to take the floor since he wouldn't fit on the couch. He managed to sleep decently, though. Seeing Cas again had filled him with a lightness he hadn't expected, and the next morning after they'd all had breakfast, Sam was out in the garden with the little guy, ready to pick those pumpkins.

"These look great," he said, causing Cas to beam at him.

He took the pair of shears Jody had given him and snipped a pumpkin from the vine, then another. Cas bent down to pick up the smaller one, making a series of unintelligible noises as he struggled to heft it off the ground.

"You got it?" Sam asked, poised to take it if necessary.

"Mhm-hm," Cas grunted, and turned toward the house.

Sam picked up the other pumpkin and followed behind, one arm out as a safeguard in case Cas dropped it. They made it inside, but the pumpkin was too heavy for Cas to lift high enough to get up and onto the table, though he tried.

"Whoa there, cowboy," Dean jumped in, striding over and reaching under the pumpkin to help.

"Oof. Thank you," Cas said. He then climbed into a chair and looked expectantly at Sam. "Now what?"

Sam set his pumpkin on the table. "Okay, first we have to cut a hole in the top, and then we have to scoop out the pumpkin seeds."

"Do we use the seeds to plant more pumpkins for next year?"

"Uh, sure, I don't see why not."

"Hey," Jody put in, "set the pulp aside and I can make pumpkin pie with it."

Sam's brows rose dubiously. He'd never had homemade pumpkin pie from scratch before. "Okay, sure."

Dean clapped his hands together. "Well there's the best part of the day right there."

"But we haven't gone trick-or-treating yet," Cas replied. "The kids at school say it's the best part of Halloween, because you get candy. But I think dressing up is the funnest part."

Sam grinned. He'd never had a Halloween that was so… _normal_ , before. He was actually looking forward to it. "I think it's all fun," he said, and picked up one of the carving knives. "Okay, I'm gonna cut the top off."

"Can I do it?"

Sam hesitated. "I think it will be too tough for you." But he went ahead and sawed the blade into the pumpkin until he made it through the meaty shell. Then he gestured for Cas to take a try. The kid put both hands around the knife handle and tried to move it, but it remained stuck. He let go.

"Okay, maybe you better do it."

Sam hid a smile, and proceeded to saw a circle around the top. He then plucked the piece off, bringing with it some stringy glops of seeds, which he had to cut off so the top would be clean to put back on at the end.

"Now we have to scoop out the seeds," Sam explained. "So roll your sleeve up. It gets messy."

Cas's eyes were dancing with eagerness as he pushed his sleeve up past his elbow, and then he was shoving his hand into the pumpkin. He giggled. "It's squishy."

"Here, put the seeds on this plate," Sam said, grabbing one and setting it next to the pumpkin. "Jody, do you have an ice cream scoop?"

"Um, yeah, hang on."

She went to rattle through the kitchen drawers while Cas deposited fistful after fistful of sinewy seeds on the plate. His sleeve started to fall down, so Sam stepped in and folded it back up securely.

Jody came back with a scooper and a large bowl for them to save the pulp in.

"Thanks," Sam said.

With a little help from Dean, they eventually got both pumpkins completely cleaned out and ready to carve. Dean left Sam and Cas to that, and was already talking pie recipes with Jody as he took it upon himself to look through her pantry at ingredients.

Sam pulled his chair over next to Cas's. "Okay, so what do you want to carve?"

Cas tilted his head in confusion. "A jack-o-lantern."

Sam bit back a smile. They should probably start simple, given this was little Cas's first Halloween.

"Right. Okay, well, let's start with a tiny nose in the center here." He put a smaller carving knife in Cas's hand and guided him to a spot on the side of the pumpkin. With Sam's added strength, Cas was able to push the blade through the chunky exterior.

"We're gonna make a small triangle," Sam instructed, helping Cas along. When they'd cut the shape, Sam used his finger to push the piece into the pumpkin, then reached in to take it out.

"Okay, now for the eyes, we'll make two big triangles."

"I know to do that," Cas declared.

Sam arched a brow. Well, alright, then. He glanced over his shoulder when he heard his brother snicker, and shot Dean a mild bitch-face.

"I can't cut straight," Cas said. "This is harder than scissors."

Sam reached out to take his hands again, helping him saw through the tougher parts of the pumpkin's flesh. The mouth would be a little trickier, but Sam took his time, assisting Cas inch by inch as they wielded the knife in an arc, and then up and down for a tooth. By the time they were done, a pie was already in the oven.

Cas heaved a loud sigh. "That's a lot of work."

Sam chuckled. "Yeah, but it'll be worth it. Come on, let's do the other one, and then we'll put the finishing touches on them together."

"Okay."

Together, they carved another simple, traditional jack-o-lantern face on the second pumpkin while the kitchen began to fill with the warm aroma of baked spices. Jody had already brought out a package of tea light candles, so Sam picked out two and placed them in the bottom of the pumpkins, and then used his lighter to ignite the wick. Lastly, he placed the tops back on and then sat back in his chair.

Cas's eyes danced with the reflection of the light flickering through the carved shapes. "They look so neat!"

Sam grinned. "That they do. Nice job, bud."

Dean stepped forward. "Let's put them out on the stoop," he said, picking one up.

"Is that where they're supposed to go?" Cas asked.

"Uh, yeah, typically. I think." He glanced at Jody for confirmation.

She nodded. "Yeah, they often go there. And then when it gets dark they look even more spooky," she said, hunching forward toward Cas and deepening her voice.

He giggled and squirmed away, then went back to the table to try lifting the other pumpkin.

"Whoa, I got it," Sam jumped in, scooping it up. It was much lighter without the innards, but there was a live flame inside. "You tell us where we should put them, okay?"

"Okay." Cas bounded ahead of them.

They passed Alex coming downstairs on their way to the door.

"What smells so good?" she asked.

"Jody and Dean made pumpkin pie from scratch," Sam replied.

"Should be almost ready," Dean called over his shoulder as he stepped out onto the porch.

Alex looked relieved. "I could use a study break," she said, and headed toward the kitchen.

Sam followed Dean and Cas outside where Cas directed them to put the jack-o-lanterns on the ground in front of the bushes. Then they went back inside where the hearty scent of pumpkin was now making Sam's mouth water. It seemed to even draw Claire downstairs, as she ventured into the kitchen not much later, and Jody handed her a slice of pie without any fuss.

"Oh, this is heaven," Dean moaned after taking a forkful.

"Isn't heaven up in the clouds?" Cas asked.

"Dean means it tastes so good he feels like he's in heaven," Sam explained, then took his own bite with a large dollop of whipped cream. The pie was good, but, really, everything about this day had made Sam feel like maybe he was in Heaven. Except he wasn't in some facsimile of his happiest memory; he was creating one. And while there was still some big stuff on his and Dean's plates when they left here, taking the time like this really did do wonders for his soul.

Jody set her empty plate aside and glanced at her watch. "It should be time to go trick-or-treating soon. Cas, you want to go put on your costume?"

His face lit up, and he scampered out of his seat. "Yes!" But he'd only taken a step toward the hallway before pivoting back around. "Alex, are you coming trick-or-treating?" he asked, giving her the puppy dog eyes.

"Of course." She gave him an apologetic grimace. "I'm sorry I missed out on the pumpkin carving. I had to do a lot of studying today so I could come out with you tonight."

Cas beamed at her. "Oh good." He spun toward Sam and Dean. "And you're coming too, right?"

Sam's lips twitched. "You bet."

Delighted, Cas hurried from the kitchen, Jody following after him. Sam shook his head in amusement and finished his pie, while Dean helped himself to another slice.

Not much later, Cas and Jody came back down, and Sam's brows rose at Cas dressed up as none other than a bumblebee, with a little cap on his head with antennae and transparent wings behind his back. Dean was shaking his head, and he shared a look with Claire that Sam couldn't read.

"Well, aren't you the coolest little bee around town," Dean said to Cas, who grinned happily. The kid grabbed Dean's hand and started tugging him toward the front door. Sam got up to follow.

"Claire, you coming?" Jody asked nonchalantly.

"Nah," she replied, just as casually.

Sam exchanged a look with his brother, wondering what Dean had said to Claire yesterday, if he'd been able to make any headway with her.

But before anyone could try wheedling her, Claire went on, "Someone should stay and hand out candy to the trick-or-treaters who come here."

Jody pursed her mouth, but after a moment nodded. "Okay. See you later."

They headed out. It wasn't dark yet, though it would be twilight within forty minutes. There were other kids starting to come out as well, some with families, others in unchaperoned groups. For a brief moment, Sam couldn't believe he was strolling down the sidewalk with his brother and surrogate family, treating Halloween like the fun holiday it was to most people, as opposed to being on a case or simply shutting themselves in to avoid the crazy that tended to come out around this time.

He watched Cas whip his head around in wonder at the various costumes, watched him bound up to a door and knock and hold out his little plastic pumpkin for a handful of candy, all the while looking as though he was having the time of his life.

Cas came dashing back down the drive to them. "Look at all this candy!" he exclaimed, holding out his container.

Dean leaned over to peek inside and let out a low whistle. "You hit the jackpot there, buddy." He paused. "Whoa, is that a Zagnut?"

Sam quirked a brow. "A what?"

"I used to love those," Dean said. "You remember, it's basically peanut brittle."

"Oh yeah." Sam remembered Dean buying those at gas stations when they were on the road with Dad.

Cas dug in his container and pulled the candy bar out. "You can have it," he said to Dean.

"Are you sure? That's your candy. You're the one who dressed up and rang the doorbell."

"But I have a lot and you like it."

Dean smiled softly, and accepted the bar. "Thanks, man."

Cas turned to Sam and Alex. "Do you want some?"

Alex smiled and rubbed his head, making his cap crooked. "Maybe later."

Sam held a hand up. "Same here."

"Yeah," Jody chimed in. "No candy before dinner."

Dean froze, already unwrapping the Zagnut candy bar. Cas burst into a fit of giggles as Dean gave Jody a sheepish look. She rolled her eyes.

They headed to the next house, which was fully decorated in cotton spider webs, jack-o-lanterns, orange lights, and an array of other ghoulish paraphernalia. Sam roved his gaze over it all, torn between appreciating the spirit and feeling disgust because monsters were real and way more gruesome than these parodies were imitating.

A group of five kids were already heading up the walkway, when a pop-up vampire suddenly shot out of a nearby coffin, eyes red and fangs bared. The kids screamed and squealed, crowding in on each other and almost falling into the bushes. A recording of a sinister laugh played from a speaker.

Cas stood frozen on the sidewalk. "I don't want to go that way."

Dean frowned, glancing between Cas and the coffin. He put his arm around Cas. "How about I go with you? Remember monsters are scared of me."

Cas bit his lip.

Dean took his hand and tugged him forward. "Trust me."

He guided Cas up the walkway, putting himself on the side of the trick vampire, which had since reset. When the thing popped up, Dean body blocked it, and stayed in its face through the audio laughter and until the thing folded back down.

"Yeah, you better run."

Sam shook his head, unsure whether to be amused or embarrassed. Based on the looks on Alex and Jody's faces, the same was true for them.

But Cas made it to the door and rang the bell to get his candy. After that, Dean walked with him up to every door, as it was getting dark now and harder to see what scary decorations might be hidden in someone's yard.

Sam marveled at this soft side of his brother. Of course Dean had always been like this, when Sam was growing up. It'd just been years since he'd let it out. Cas was giving him that opportunity again. And Sam was grateful. For so many things.

Tragedy may have brought them all here, but out of it had also come something more wonderful than any of them could have ever imagined.


	4. Chapter 4

The Winchesters stayed the weekend, but after that they had to get back out there, hunting monsters and saving the world. And life at Jody's went back to normal. Well, mostly. Claire still seemed stuck in limbo, staying yet not fully integrating herself into their routines. It would take time.

At least the boys' visit appeared to have helped. They were able to talk to Claire about Castiel in a way Jody wasn't able to, as she'd never had the chance to meet the grown angel. And hopefully Sam and Dean had some good advice for her about not going off on her own again.

"Jody! Jody! We're going to be late!" Cas exclaimed, hurrying into the kitchen and grabbing the hem of her jacket to tug on it.

"Hey, no running in the house," she responded. "And the carnival is open all day, sweetie. We're not going to miss it."

He was practically bouncing at her feet with excited energy. Granted, he'd been looking forward to going to the carnival for several weeks, so Jody could hardly blame him. But he was acting like a kid on a sugar high, and he hadn't even eaten any cotton candy yet.

Her cell phone rang, and a quick glance showed the station's caller ID. Jody grimaced. Uh-oh… "Hang on, I have to take this."

Cas sighed dejectedly and turned to go back out to the living room.

"Hello?" Jody answered.

"Sorry to bother you, Sheriff," one of her deputies started. "I know you took an early day."

"Yeah, so this better be really important…"

"It is. We've got a body."

Jody closed her eyes. Of course. "How bad?" she asked, already having an inkling of the answer; otherwise, they wouldn't have called her.

"Pretty brutal killing."

Jody groaned internally. Crap. "Okay, text me the address and I'll be right there." She hung up. Sometimes she had to put her family above work, and sometimes she had to do the opposite.

She headed into the living room where Alex was helping Cas into his coat. Claire was lounging on the couch, flipping through a magazine.

Cas's eyes lit up. "Now can we go?"

"Um, here's the thing, kiddo," Jody said apologetically, "I have to go into work."

His face fell. "But what about the carnival?"

"You can Alex can still go." Jody paused, and then threw out on a whim, "And maybe Claire can go in my place."

Claire looked up with a frown. "What do you have to go in for?" She set the magazine aside and straightened on the couch. "If they need you on your afternoon off, it must be big. Is it a murder? Something that sounds unnatural?"

Jody gave her a sharp glower. "Ix-nay on the murder talk," she hissed, pointedly flicking her eyes toward Cas.

"Sorry. But maybe I can help," Claire went on, getting to her feet.

"You are not a cop—yet." Though, Jody was starting to wonder whether offering to train Claire as one hadn't been the best idea. But they did not have time to discuss it right now.

Jody went to the hall closet to get her gun out of the lock box. "Just go to the carnival with Cas and Alex, okay? Get out, have some fun. You've been cooped up here all week."

"But—"

"Nope!" Jody cut her off. "You want to be involved in cases, we can talk about that later. But no shortcuts." She stopped by Cas to bend down and give him a quick hug, then smiled at Alex. "Have fun."

Then she was out the door before Claire could try arguing further.

The crime scene was across town in a dumpy alley behind a laundromat. Deputy Saunders was waiting for her, and gave her a regretful look as he lifted the police tape for her to duck under.

"Sorry again to pull you away from your family, especially for something so gruesome."

"That's the job," she replied. "So what do you got?"

"Victim is male, late thirties. Driver's license says Harold Phillips, though we're not able to get a visual confirmation."

Jody frowned. "What? Why not?"

"Body was pretty torn up," Saunders replied, escorting her down the alley toward a row of dumpsters where a crime scene tech was photographing the scene and the coroner was examining the body.

Jody pulled up short and took a moment to collect herself. She'd seen her share of horrors, but it still threw her those first few seconds every time. The body was definitely unrecognizable, face and torso completely mangled with what looked like claw marks.

"Looks like a wild animal attack," Saunders said. "Thing is, the body was found in the dumpster." He shook his head. "Pretty sure mountain lions don't clean up after themselves."

No. No, they did not.

Jody hated having to ask this question. "Are any organs missing?"

The coroner quirked a confused look at her. "Uh, actually, yeah. The heart."

Jody's shoulders sagged.

Aw, crap.

* * *

Alex couldn't stop smiling at how captivated Cas was by all the lights and bells and whistles of the carnival. He was so excited that when they'd first arrived, he couldn't decide where he wanted to go first. Until he saw the pony rides, and then he made a beeline toward that, and then once wasn't enough; he had to go line up two more times. Alex made sure to take lots of pictures on her cell phone for Jody.

Cas came running out of the arena after his third ride. "Alex, can you please help me convince Jody to get a pony? Please, please, please?"

Alex had to bite back a laugh. "Sorry, bud, but I'm pretty sure Jody is still going to say no. A pony isn't exactly a house pet."

"But we have room in the backyard. And it can eat vegetables from the garden!"

"We don't have a stable. And ponies eat a lot. A lot faster than our garden can grow. And then we won't get to eat any of it."

Cas pursed his mouth thoughtfully. "Oh. Well, then, okay."

Alex reached for his hand. "Come on, let's go see what else is here." She glanced at Claire, who had come with them after all but had been pretty much hanging back and playing with her phone, rather than engaging with them. Alex wanted to ask why she'd bothered coming at all, but kept silent. She wanted to help Claire feel like she still had a home with them. Even if her adopted sister was not making it easy.

They moseyed through the various aisles of the carnival until they came to a game Cas was interested in, one with throwing rings onto spokes. Alex paid the attendant an absurd amount of money, and Cas got his three ring tosses, but only scored one. Alex paid again and this time helped him with the throws, winning a stuffed purple gecko.

Cas immediately handed it to her. "There. Now I won you a prize for finishing summer school. Sorry it took so long."

Alex mussed his hair and smiled. "Thank you. I love it."

He grinned back, and then turned to Claire. "Can I win you one?"

She blinked at him. "Oh. No, that's okay. I still have that stuffed cat…" Claire trailed off for a moment before shaking her head. "I'm good." She shot Alex a sharp look. "And don't you dare repeat that I kept that thing."

Alex's lips twitched, but she mimed zipping them shut.

As they turned to leave, a guy stepped into their path and shoved a flyer at Alex.

"Have you seen this girl?" he asked.

Alex started at the abrupt intrusion, gaze dropping to the sheet with a picture of a young woman and bold capital letters saying 'Missing Person.'

"Um, no. Sorry."

"Please, just take a harder look," he pressed.

Claire moved forward and took the paper. "Who is she?"

"My girlfriend. She went missing while at this carnival when it was in Stokoe County in the Spring. And she's not the only one. Several people have been reported missing in every town this carnival has stopped in over the past year."

Claire arched her brows. "What do the cops say?"

The guy let out a frustrated sound. "That there's no evidence of foul play, no leads. My own local sheriff said I should just accept the fact that she dumped me and ran off to join the circus. Can you believe that? I mean, who the hell runs off to join the circus these days?" He shook his head sharply. "And besides, we're in love. I- I was going to propose soon…"

Alex's heart twinged in sympathy for the guy. He seemed genuinely distraught, but if his girlfriend went missing in Stokoe County, then there wasn't much chance of anyone in Sioux Falls having seen her.

Claire, however, was like a dog who'd caught a scent. "Any other unusual things reported at the same time people went missing?"

Alex grabbed her arm. "Excuse us," she said to the bereaved boyfriend, and dragged Claire a few steps away. "What are you doing?" she hissed. "I thought you were over jumping at monsters that aren't there?"

"This could be a monster."

"Or a regular old serial killer." Alex rolled her eyes. "Jody wanted you to come out here and chill."

"Yeah, well, I can't just ignore when something might be up. And what about the murder that just happened?"

"Jody never said it was a murder," Alex retorted under her breath.

Claire scowled at her. "Look, I've gotten pretty good at trusting my instincts since being out on my own."

Alex forced herself to take a breath, and then shook her head. "Fine, whatever. Do what you want. But I am not gonna expose Cas to this."

She turned toward where he was standing a few feet away, expression pinched as he watched them. "Come on, Squirt." She took his hand and quickly led him away, internally fuming at Claire.

Alex understood why she wanted to get involved and help people, but why did it always have to be right away, without any thought to taking her time to figure out what she might be getting herself into?

"Alex?" Cas spoke up. "Is Claire a hunter like Sam and Dean?"

She stopped walking to look down at him, debating on what to answer. While they and the Winchesters had hinted at monsters being real, they'd never actually sat down and told Cas there were things like vampires and werewolves, just that Sam and Dean hunted  _things_  and saved people.

"Yeah, sometimes."

"So she's going to help that man find that woman?" he asked.

Alex sighed. "I think she wants to. But we're not going to worry about any of that, okay?"

Cas tilted his head and furrowed his brow. "You don't think we should help?"

Alex's expression softened. "No, sweetie. Not this time."

He seemed to accept that, and they started moving again, passing in front of a booth where a hulking brute of a man suddenly lunged forward with a snarl. Cas yelped and leaped against Alex, and even she let out a short, high-pitched scream. The people around them chuckled and sniggered, and it took her a moment to read the sign of the booth—the "Wolf Man." The beastly man's makeup sure lived up to the description—a thick, bushy unibrow and wild hair from the top of his head down his sideburns. He leaned back, eyeing Alex with a predatory gleam.

Cas clung to her leg, and she quickly ushered him away from that section and down to another game booth, this one with water squirt guns.

Claire caught up to them not much later.

"Hey," she said after she'd jogged over. "I'm gonna hang around for a bit."

Alex couldn't say she was even surprised.

"Is there a monster here?" Cas asked fearfully.

"No," Alex automatically replied.

"Yes," Claire said at the same time.

"Don't scare him!" Alex berated.

Claire rolled her eyes. "Look, why don't you two head home?" She glanced at Cas. "You've had your fill of fun, right, kid?"

Alex glared at her. "Don't you dare try to ruin this for him."

"I'm just thinking it might be safer," Claire argued. "Besides, we've been here for a couple hours already."

Alex clenched a fist, seriously feeling the urge to punch Claire right now. She shook her head angrily—either way, the evening had been ruined. Shoulders slumping in defeat, Alex looked at Cas.

"Well, buddy, how about it? You ready to go home?"

He nodded mutely.

"Okay, let's go." She took his hand and started heading back toward the parking lot. "Maybe we can come back again next weekend," she said. "The carnival should be in town a bit longer. You want to ride the ponies again, right?"

Cas remained quiet.

"We'll make sure Jody doesn't get pulled away by work, either," Alex went on, trying to coax some enthusiasm out of him. "Maybe if she sees you riding the pony, she might change her mind about getting one."

Cas's lips twitched, and his eyes started to sparkle again. "You think so?"

Alex shrugged. "Who knows?"

She rounded a corner to take a short cut between some porta-potties, but just before they were about to step out into the parking lot, something hit Alex from behind, sending her crashing to the ground. Her ears were ringing and everything looked fuzzy, but she heard Cas scream an instant before she was struck again, and everything blacked out.

* * *

After using her phone to browse through news stories about these supposed disappearances from the carnival, Claire decided to call Jody. The line rang four times before it was picked up.

"Claire?" Jody answered warily.

"Hey, by any chance was your victim today last seen at the carnival?"

There was silence on the other end for several beats. "What?" Jody finally said.

"There's been a string of people going missing in the towns this carnival has been at," Claire informed her.

Jody let out what sounded like an exasperated sigh. "Well, it's too early to know where he was last seen. But if none of the other people have shown up as murder victims, then I doubt it's linked to this one."

"But it could be," Claire pressed. "Was there anything weird about the murder?"

She could practically hear Jody grinding her teeth.

"His heart was missing," she said grudgingly.

Claire's brows rose. "So, a werewolf."

Jody made another disgruntled sound. "Why don't you guys head home."

"Alex and Cas already left," Claire replied. "I'm gonna stay, take a look around. It might not be a coincidence, the people going missing and this murder."

"Claire—"

She hung up. She was much more capable than people gave her credit for. She even had her angel sword in the small duffel slung over her shoulder, as she never went anywhere without a weapon anymore. One never knew when it'd be needed, and the nice thing about the Grigori blade was it killed just about anything.

She kept to the edges of the carnival, eyes peeled against the bustling throngs. It was after dark now, and the place was filled with bright, psychedelic lights punctuated with loud bops and whistles. It would be easy for someone to be snatched away, unnoticed, in an environment like this. Claire spotted that one guy, still handing out missing person flyers of his girlfriend, and felt a pang of sympathy for him.

She realized she wasn't going to find much out here, and so she snuck around to the back of the carnival, the behind the scenes area that was off-limits to guests. Staying crouched in the shadows, she avoided a couple of clowns heading to a trailer, but other than that, most of the activity was happening out front at the carnival's peak traffic time.

Claire debated where to look next, but then she spotted a massive figure moving across the lot. That was the "Wolf Man." Claire narrowed her eyes, something setting off her spidey senses. She slowly straightened and followed after him, as he was heading away from the center of the carnival.

Despite his large size, she lost sight of him a few times, and by the time she quickened her pace to come out at a row of porta-potties, he was gone. Claire huffed. Now what?

She half turned to go back the way she'd come, and her foot knocked against something soft. Claire bent down to pick it up. It was a stuffed toy of a purple lizard. She frowned. Just as she felt her brain trying to tell her something, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up, and a shadow detached from a nearby trailer.

Claire twisted away at the last second, barely avoiding getting clobbered by a hulking brute. She still got clipped, and the force of the impact sent her rolling across the ground. She rolled with the momentum, coming to a stop in a crouch, and quickly grabbed her sword from her bag. A pair of yellow eyes gleamed in the dark as the Wolf Man stepped into the halo of light from the trailer. He sneered at her, baring a row of fangs.

"Well, you're certainly one of the prettier hunters I've ever come across."

Claire arched an unimpressed brow at him. "Nice camouflage with the Wolf Man gig. Kind of cheesy, though."

His nostrils flared as he began to circle around her. Claire side stepped too, keeping pace so he remained across from her.

"Desperate times and all that," he replied. "The British Men of Letters have been trying to wipe us out."

Claire furrowed her brow. The British Men of Letters? Like that dweeb who was following the Winchesters around like an intern?

The werewolf spread his arms. "You have to admit, what better hiding place than where you're  _supposed_  to be a monster?"

She snorted. "Yeah, well, you kinda screwed up leaving that body today."

He growled and gnashed his teeth at her, still stalking in an arc. "That wasn't me," he snapped. "I'm more careful than that. But some mangy mutt was stupid and now he's brought a hunter down on  _me_  instead."

"Tough break." She tightened her grip on the sword hilt.

He finally stopped moving, lip curling upward. "Oh, but that's all right. I always take measures to protect myself." He paused, eyes glinting fiendishly. "Like how I have your friends—that delicious brunette and the child."

Claire froze.  _What?_  No, he was lying…but how had he known she'd been here with them? Her thoughts flitted back to that stuffed lizard on the ground that had looked familiar. Oh god…

"Where are they?" she demanded.

He smirked. "Safe. For now. At least as long as you let me go."

Claire gritted her teeth. She knew better than to trust a monster. If she gave in, there would be nothing to stop him from killing Alex and Cas anyway. How long since they'd been taken? Surely not long enough for Wolf Man to have transported them away from the fairgrounds and come back. Besides, this was a traveling carnival year round, so this guy wouldn't have had any place in town to stash them. No, this was his base, his home turf, which meant they had to still be here somewhere.

Claire raised her Grigori sword and charged. The werewolf twisted away with a snarl, claws beginning to grow from his fingernails. Great, a pureblood. That explained his ability to blend in at the carnival under his stage name; there wasn't any makeup involved.

He slashed at her and she ducked, following through with a thrust toward his gut. Claire only nicked him, and he howled in pain and rage. His eyes blazed with madness, and suddenly he threw himself at her head on. Claire had a split second burst of fight or flight adrenaline, but she'd been prepared. Finding her center, she stepped into the attack and plunged the sword straight through his chest and heart.

The collision of their opposing momentum jarred her balance, but she kept her feet as his body went limp on the sword, adding several hundred pounds of weight to it. Claire staggered back, wrenching the blade out. The werewolf dropped to the ground with a dull thud, wide eyes staring sightlessly at nothing.

Claire's heart was racing, and she dropped down next to him, desperate to find out where he'd put Alex and Cas, but he was already gone. There was a chain around his neck, though, with a key on it. Claire snatched at it, breaking the links. She whipped her gaze around the carnival trailers, frantically trying to determine where he might have hidden his kidnapped victims. In his own trailer? Which one was it?

Claire had to admit she was starting to panic, and she almost reached for her phone to call Jody and have her bring the whole cavalry out here, but then her gaze caught on some bright green paint staining the werewolf's pants. It was still shiny.

She remembered seeing a Ferris wheel cordoned off with signs of fresh paint, and it'd been painted the same color.

Surging to her feet, Claire dashed across the lot toward the closed ride. But Alex and Cas couldn't be  _on_  it. Maybe just nearby? As Claire sprinted around the back of the Ferris wheel, she spotted a door to a shed underneath the platform, and her heart gave a leap. She took the key and hurried forward to stick it in the lock.

It clicked, and Claire burst inside. She heard a stifled whimper before her eyes adjusted, and she saw Cas huddled on the floor, knees drawn up to his chest and his wrists bound with rope. He was sitting next to Alex, who was laying on her side, apparently unconscious.

Claire closed the few feet between them and dropped to the ground. "Hey, hey, hey, it's me, Claire."

Cas looked up at her with wide eyes, cheeks stained with tear tracks. Claire took the Grigori sword and deftly cut his bonds. As soon as his wrists were free, Cas threw himself into her arms with a sob. She was so stunned for a moment that her fingers went slack around the sword, and it clattered to the floor. But then she brought her arms up around the kid and held him close.

"It's okay. You're okay now," she soothed, rubbing his back and cupping his head as he cried into her shirt. Claire lowered her voice and whispered in his ear. "You're okay, I promise. I won't let anything hurt you."

And, she was surprised to note, she meant that with such visceral conviction, rather than as a superficial platitude for a scared child. In that moment, Claire felt a clarity that had previously been eluding her.

Castiel had once looked after her. And now it was her turn to look after him.

* * *

Flashing red and blue lights overpowered the carnival's garish displays as authorities flooded the place. Police tape was being put up in several places and uniformed officers were already examining the Wolf Man's body. Claire had stashed her Grigori sword in Alex's car prior to their arrival, and all she'd told the cops so far was that he had tried to kidnap her sister and brother, but she'd found them in the shed under the Ferris wheel.

She wouldn't be getting much scrutiny, anyway, as police had just found a bunch of bodies buried out behind the Wolf Man's trailer, proving he was a serial killer behind all those disappearances.

Claire skirted around the crime scene to the edge of the lot, and picked up the stuffed lizard. She brushed off the dirt, then turned to head back to the ambulance. Alex and Cas were sitting side by side in the back, a gray blanket wrapped around them both. Alex had a nasty bump on the back of her head and a mild concussion, but was otherwise okay. She looked up as Claire approached, offering a wan smile.

Claire held out the lizard. "I think you lost this."

Alex blinked at it for a moment before reaching out to take it. She then passed it to Cas. "Think you can hold onto this for me until we get home?" she asked softly.

He nodded, and wordlessly grasped onto it tightly. Alex drew him closer and kissed the top of his head.

Harried movement drew Claire's eye, and she looked over to see Jody pushing her way through the crowd to reach them.

"Are you guys okay?" she asked urgently, immediately scooping Cas into her arms and looking him over. He was thankfully unhurt, just traumatized, and he clung to her. Jody glanced at Alex and reached out to cup her head, gaze worriedly searching hers.

"I'm okay," Alex assured her.

Jody finally settled her gaze on Claire. "Are you okay?"

She nodded meekly. "It was a werewolf," she said quietly. "But, uh, apparently not the one that left the body this afternoon."

Jody let out a long breath. "Okay, uh, we'll deal with that later." She shook her head. "I'm sorry for not listening to you. Again," she added ruefully, but then gave Claire an appreciative nod. "You've got good instincts."

Claire's lips thinned. She'd yearned for that kind of praise for a while…but now she knew she didn't deserve it. "Maybe…but I shouldn't have gone off on my own." She flicked an apologetic look at Alex. "My snooping tipped the werewolf off, which was why he grabbed you guys in the first place." Claire shuffled her foot. "I'm sorry."

Alex shrugged. "Comes with the territory, right? And you came through for us. Thanks."

Claire's mouth quirked, and she leaned in to give Alex a side hug.

"Still," she said when she pulled back. "I admit that I could use some more training. Proper training." Lifting her shoulders with a sigh, Claire looked at Jody. "So where do I sign up to become a deputy?"

Jody gave her a small smile. "We'll get on that tomorrow. Right now, it's past someone's bedtime."

Cas's head was resting on her shoulder and his eyes were half-lidded. Kid had a pretty rough day and could definitely use some rest.

Claire offered Alex a hand to help her hop down from the back of the ambulance cab, and then they started to follow Jody toward the parking lot. Another nice perk of being with the sheriff's office—they could handle statements and stuff internally. Claire was beginning to think she could get used to that.

"Mmph," Cas mumbled. "Claire?"

She skipped a step to come up beside him. "Yeah?"

His eyelids fluttered sleepily as he gazed at her, cheek still pressed to Jody's shoulder. "Are you going to stay and keep the monsters away?"

She gave him a soft smile and reached out to stroke his hair back from his forehead. "Yes. So go to sleep. Everything's fine now, I promise."

His eyelids slid closed and stayed that way, even when Jody put him in the backseat. Claire offered to drive Alex's car home.

…Home. When Claire had first returned, everything had been so different. Everyone had moved on with their lives without her, leaving nothing but numerous complications that Claire hadn't believed she could deal with or reconcile. But that wasn't how things ended up working out. She'd found a place after all.

And all those things that had seemed insurmountable had, in fact, been stepping stones to finding her way home.


End file.
